Rare books from Oak Knoll Books/Oak Knoll Press

Portland, OR: Lewis & Clark College, 2003. cloth, dust jacket. 8 x 12 inches. cloth, dust jacket. 316 pages. Introduction and essays by the author; bibliography after the text by Doug Erickson, Jeremy Skinner and Paul Merchant. This first comprehensive bibliography of Lewis and Clark expedition publications in a century is based on the world-class collection of materials at the Aubrey R. Watzak Library of Lewis & Clark College. The book is divided into seven sections: the expedition's traveling library of scientific, technical, and cartographic material (1754-1804); related congressional documents and early notices (1803-1807); editions of Patrick Gass's journal (1807-1904); surreptitious accounts (1809-1846); the Biddle-Allen narrative of the expedition (1814-2001); nineteenth-century publications (1803-1905); and twentieth-century publications (1906-2001). In each section, introductory historical essays survey the large cast of characters who have contributed to the expedition story since the last… Read More

New York: The Bibliographical Society of America, 1990. cloth. 8vo. cloth. 254 pages. The history of the book trade in Medieval London before the age of print has long remained a matter of speculation. Few records survive that name the book artisans and entrepreneurs involved with this early trade venture or that document directly their methods of producing books and creating markets for them. In this directory, C. Paul Christianson assembles an extensive body of alternative data drawn from archival documents that identifies 262 participants in the London trade during a period of 200 years. This group includes stationers, manuscript artisans (called limners), textwriters, bookbinders, parchment sellers, and other London citizens active in book production and sale. This book provides a summary of information about the independent book craftsman working in London during this period. Four appendices contain indexes, and two maps, one modern and one from the sixteenth century, illustrate the historical… Read More

London, England: Eugrammia Press, 1965. cloth, paper wrappers, both volumes enclosed in a slipcase. Fournier, Pierre Simon. oblong 4to. cloth, paper wrappers, both volumes enclosed in a slipcase. Facsimile of the 1742 manual accompanied by the 20 page introduction. 2 volumes. Printed in an edition limited to 600 copies. Loosely inserted in this copy is the 12 page publisher's catalogue describing this book and others they published. One joint split about one inch from opening of slipcase. Minor wear to slipcase. Else a pristine copy of this scarce facsimile. Reproduced from the copy in the Printing Library of the St. Bride Institute. Thirty-three plates depict samples of the types cut by Fournier c. 1742, which then appeared in his Manuel Typographique. Introduction by Mosley, renowned typography professor and then librarian at the St. Bride Printing Library. Printed in collotype by Louis van Leer & Co. of Amsterdam on rag cream paper. A consummate artist and craftsman, Fournier (1712 - 1768)… Read More

Charlottesville: Bibliographical Society of America, 1980. hardcover, dust jacket. 6 x 9.25 inches. hardcover, dust jacket. 568 pages. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Bibliographical Society of America, this retrospective collection of articles seeks to represent, in the broadest possible way, the diverse contributions of the members of the Society to its Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. The pieces demonstrate to the highest degree of excellence - articles of critical importance that have moved forward the art of bibliography. This volume contains 39 articles that strongly suggest that the practice of bibliography in America during the past three-quarters of a century cannot be easily categorized. Instead, the articles range over the entire spectrum of the world of books. An interesting characteristic of the selection is the preponderance of articles concerned with the relationship between books and people - especially with collectors rather than with those… Read More

New York: Kathryn I. Rickard, 1989. cloth, dust jacket. Miniature Books. 4to. cloth, dust jacket. viii, 250 pages. Edited with a preface by Msgr. Francis J. Weber. First edition, limited to 500 copies. The first major work of its kind. An essential guide for anybody involved in this area of book collecting. Compliments card loosely inserted signed by the author. Dust jacket has slight discoloration at spine, very light rubbing at spine corners. Inside is as new.

New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2015. paperback. Bookbinding. 6 x 9 inches. paperback. 144 pages. Tricks of the Trade considers what is not taught - but probably should be - about binding and rebinding books. Written for competent binders and knowledgeable collectors, it brings quirky but effective binding techniques out of obscurity and into the professional repertory. Here are tricks binders can use to polish and refine their bindings, as well as suggestions for repairs that may add value to collections. Using photographs of her own bindings as illustrations, Jamie Kamph discusses decorative techniques, sources for design ideas, engineering concerns, and ways to both correct and avoid common mistakes. In addition to providing practical solutions, Kamph's advice delves into the grey area between technical discipline and artistic invention. Detailed instructions and drawings describe binding practices such as corner shaping, headbanding, rebacking, and recasing books. An extensive discussion… Read More

New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2016. hardcover, dust jacket. 6.625 x 9.875 inches. hardcover, dust jacket. 176 pages. "The detailed research and design process behind all these fonts (as well as the evolving technology) is conveyed through the many half-tone illustrations in Nancy Stock-Allen's excellent study." - Nancy Campbell, TLS "Carol Twombly... has been billed as 'the first book on type design centered around the career of one woman.' I would argue that it is more important than that. It is the first full-length biography of a type designer of the digital era - man or woman. ... an essential addition to the bookshelves of anyone seriously interested in the history of type design." - Paul Shaw, PRINT Magazine "Very well-written and - dare I say it, (this is a type nerd book after all) - quite an engaging read." - Elizabeth Carey Smith, Type Director's Club (blog review) "The book provides broad and deep context for Twombly's work within the insular typographic community that… Read More

Risbury: The Whittington Press, 1995. quarter cloth, slipcase. Whittington Press. small 4to. quarter cloth, slipcase. (viii), 180, (2) pages. With a memoir by Susan Falkner, an introduction by Brocard Dewell, a preface by Michael Taylor, and an appendix by Adrian Cunningham. Limited to 400 numbered copies, of which this is one of 300 numbered copies bound in quarter cloth over paper covered boards. Fine in fine slipcase. With frontis and 23 additional illustrations throughout, including 12 letterpress facsimiles (some foldouts), 4 color-plates, and 3 photos. Saint Dominic's was founded in 1916 by H.D.C. Pepler and published a number of Eric Gill titles.

(Santa Fe): Press of the Palace of The Governors, 1990. quarter cloth with paper-covered boards, fore edge uncut. Press of the Palace of The Governors. large 8vo. quarter cloth with paper-covered boards, fore edge uncut. 60, (2) pages. First edition, limited to 165 numbered copies. With an introduction by Clark Kimball of The Great Southwest Books, Santa Fe. History of the Seton Village Press from its foundation in 1938 until it closed five years later. During that time, the owner, Ernest Thompson Seton, with the aid of his wife and Maurice and Marceil Taylor had produced twenty titles, of which fifteen were printed and set entirely by hand. Each title receives a thorough description and is illustrated throughout by black and white photographs and line drawings reproduced from Seton editions. Signed on colophon page by both Taylors.

New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 2019. Hardback with dust jacket. 8.125 x 10.75 inches. Hardback with dust jacket. 160 pages. "This meticulously researched volume untangles the complicated and confusing history of American first editions of Dickens. It will be of interest to all students of Dickens, and invaluable for specialists. ... Highly recommended." - J. D. Vann, Choice This bibliography traces the history of Charles Dickens's Christmas books and other works published in America during his lifetime. Meticulously researched and presented, it includes data never before published. Original editions are identified and fully described, and each entry contains photographs of bindings and title pages, notes, related quotes or contemporary commentary, and dates of publication. This study enhances our knowledge of an important aspect of the Dickens oeuvre, and it should prove an essential reference book for all rare book libraries and institutions, book collectors, book dealers, and students… Read More

Baltimore: The Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University, 2017. paperback. 9.2 x 5.2 inches. paperback. xiv, 129 pages. This collection of short, illustrated essays by leading and emerging Poe scholars focuses on twenty Poe-related objects from a private collection, which are closely examined as a means of unpacking Poe's family history, literary preoccupations, and legacy. Published in connection with a public exhibition at Johns Hopkins University, October 2016 through February 2017, "The Enigmatic Edgar A. Poe in Baltimore & Beyond.

Alexandria NSW, Australia: Opifex, 2019. Paperback. 6 x 9 inches. Paperback. 114 pages. "Loney's personal approach is strong medicine--an antidote to the worn discourses that drain the concept of the book as a work of art of all meaning." - Peter Koch, The CODEX Foundation, California "With grace and wise-ranging erudition Alan Loney dismantles the exclusive and elitist myths regarding both book and work of art in our digital age. This is a most welcome celebration of book and artmaking in all their specificity and materiality." - Marion May Campbell, Deakin University, Australia In Search of the Book as a Work of Art is a probing series of questions about how we understand the words 'art' and 'book' and what happens when we put them together. It argues that the categories by which we have distinguished different kinds of books no longer tell us what we are looking at when we look at new books, including many being made by trade publishers. Categories like 'fine press book' and 'artist book'… Read More

New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 2021. cloth with dust jacket. 7 x 10 inches. cloth with dust jacket. xii, 540 pages. First edition, third printing with corrections. Books About Books Book of the Year Award winner, 2023 "From the get-go, two things are obvious: one, Reid Byers has done his research, and two, Reid Byers loves books and having books in the home... the book is never a dry read. Its contents are sliced and chunked so nicely that there is no chance of getting bored... it is a book written for todays book collectors and bibliophiles." Read the article here: https://booksaboutbooks.com/the-private-library-book-of-the-year-2023/ Featured in The New York Times, alongside an interview with author Reid Byers, in the article "How Many Books Does It Take to Make a Place Feel Like Home?" "... a profusely illustrated, detail-crammed, Latin-strewn and yet remarkably unstuffy book ... goes to the heart of why physical books continue to beguile us." - Julie Lasky, The New York Times… Read More

Berkeley: CODEX Foundation, 2021. wrappers. 5.5 x 7.75 inches. wrappers. 24 pages. Number seventeen of the CODE(X)+1 Monograph Series. Number seventeen of the CODE(X)+1 Monograph Series. Following Marshall McLuhan's famous quote the medium is the message this article presents the Klingspor Museum in Offenbach/Main as a unique institution representing the genre of the artists book. The Klingspor Museum is more than simply a collection of book related arts because of its foundational idea of type- and bookmaking that put tremendous emphasis on merging these two domains. The leading personality of that history is Karl Klingspor. The practice of his type foundry revolutionised the ways that trade markets, literature, and culture in general traditionally separated until then came together in the foundry. From this beginning in the foundry, Klingspor developed a collecting ethos that brought together the arts of type, writing and the book, thereby promoting the process of creation itself. Because of… Read More

Charlottesville: Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, 2021. cloth with dust jacket. 6.125 x 9.25 inches. cloth with dust jacket. xiii, 367 pages. "Books in My Life is a testament to an important scholarly career and a life well lived in the republic of books, but it also advocates for the book as a physical object that reveals so much about our shared past, as well as the joy of acquiring, accumulating, organizing, and studying them." - Geoffrey Robert Little, Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada, 60 "Books in My Life combines autobiography with fascinating observations about the many roles that books can play in ones personal and professional lives. In particular, his brief memoir detailing the specific volumes, works of art, and other artifacts that one can peruse in his living room is likely one of the most charming and thought-provoking pieces of writing readers may ever encounter. No one will look at the contents of a bookshelf the same way after reading this… Read More